[judderman]

Hi guys,

I recently bought myself a 2 way splitter off ebay to plug into the 12v socket (it has 2 sockets and a USB port) anyway I have wired this in so it sits nicely in the cubby hole...

When it was working off just the socket it was working perfect, so I cut the end of and with the help of a couple of scotch locks have taken a parallel feed off the original cigarette lighter socket and run the wires to it.

I thought this would be pretty simple basic electronics (I have an A-Level in electronics and have built all sorts but that was years ago!)

I have an issue, both the cigarette lighter and splitter are getting power to them, they both used to charge my phone, neither of them do now, it blew fuse 29 (accessory 20a) which I have replaced and thought it might have had a surge when charging but nothing!

I dont understand how they both have power and used to charge the phone but now wont? If I had all the sockets running I could understand that splitting the current would have an effect, but I am talking one socket at a time?

Anyone got any ideas? It was well wired in so wouldnt have thought it was shorting anywhere?

 

[scoosh-89]

Have you tried charging anything other than your phone?
Is the polarity correct?

When you try and charge your phone can you check the voltage on the the other 12v to see if the voltage drops?

 

[judderman]

Polarity is right I triple checked that when installing.

Not tried anything other than my phone charge wise, I have a USB Charger with an LED on the top and I have been moving that about to see if they have power to them, no multimeter here

Can I check it with anything other than a multimeter?

The only thing I can thing of (just now) is that the unit I have wired in has become faulty (somehow) and the majority of the current is passing through it resistance free, everything still has power but not enough to run anything???

Do you think taking the unit off and trying the lighter socket to see if it still works is the next logical step without the right tools...?

 

[scoosh-89]

The best thing to do would be to put it back to standard to ensure you are still getting enough power on the standard 12v socket.

The unit may be zapping power so there is not enough to charge your phone.

The unit might work ok when plugged in to the standard 12v as you are just continuing the power through the loop where as wiring it in to the harness there will be more load on the circuit.

 

[judderman]

Yeah your right scoosh I had thought that

Maybe wiring it in parallel is putting too much load on the circuit, I will put it back to standard and see whether I am still getting enough power to the socket.

Hmm I wonder if wiring it in series with the socket would be better... probably not... back to the drawing board I think!

Thanks scoosh!

 

[scoosh-89]

No problem.
Good luck with it.